WestJet Aircraft makes crash landing at PJI Airport, runway remains closed 

A WestJet plane made a crash landing at the Princess Juliana International Airport on Sunday in Sint Maarten, forcing an immediate shutdown of the facility. The runway remains closed for now as specialised US and Canadian recovery crews are currently working to remove the jet off the runway.

The incident occurred as the WestJet flight 2276 took off from Toronto at around 1:29 pm and later made a crash landing upon touchdown at PJIA. Eyewitnesses and livestream footage of the accident captured the aircraft’s shaky landing with a sudden dip to the right before the gear started burning with smoke and sparks emerging.

PJIA firefighters immediately handled the situation in less than two minutes, making sure that the fuel tank was contained with foam and passengers are evacuated safely via emergency slides. All the persons onboard were evacuated safely, as confirmed by the airport authorities in a press release, however three of them were hospitalised out of caution.

As per reports, the flight crew alerted the authorities beforehand regarding accident as they radioed, “We are stopping on the runway, send fire and rescue.” Other major inbound flights including KLM and American Airlines which landed prior to the accident were grounded while the other inbound flights were diverted to Puerto Rico.

Government Officials respond at crash site

Government officials were quick to respond to the incident rapidly, with Prime Minister Luc Mercelina praising the swift response and professionalism of the emergency responders, who assured that every effort is being made to return the airport to safe operations.

Minister of TEATT Grisha Heyliger-Marten stressed on the logistical challenges including housing the passengers with no ID or resources, helping families with food and medication and collaborating with airlines for compensation. Many affected travellers were also provided with food and hotel vouchers, while recovery crews from WestJet arrived via Anguilla to assist in removal operation.

PJIA Expected to open on late Monday

The airport is expected to open back to normal operations by September 8^th, afternoon, following a thorough civil aviation investigation and full runway inspection. Flight disruptions have impacted several regional carriers notably Winair which cancelled more than a dozen flights on Sunday.

Passengers are advised to stay in contact with their airlines directly for flight updates as authorities continue making a careful recovery and a safe reopening process.